Seventy percent of kids drop out of sports before their high school graduation. Only 15% leave because they feel they are not good enough. Almost 70% leave because they were not having fun, or due to problems with the coach. Injuries cause 30% to give up sports. This course is packed full of practical sports science information that provide youth coaches and parents with the practical pediatric sports science insights to successfully retain young athletes and develop their sport potential while avoiding injury and overtraining. We begin by examining the multidimensional nature of coaching, the relevant sport motor performance abilities, the impact of growth and development on motor skills, the gene versus practice controversy, and briefly overview the body structures strengthened through training. Then we explore the athlete's energy supply, where this energy comes from, and how it matures along with the athlete. Finally, we examine the development of strength, power, anaerobic capacity, coordination and flexibility through the life span.
The optional text manual for this course is available at: http://www.learnitez.com/HighPerformanceScience/manuals/

Reviews

AK

This was a very useful course that helped me understand a lot about an athletes body and how to work on it as a coach.\n\nA 'must do' course for all coaches.

BB

May 28, 2016

Filled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled Star

Excellent course!\n\nWill use information to help my general health & wellness.\n\nAlso highly recommend to any athlete, coach or anyone engaged in fitness.

From the lesson

Week 4: Enhancing the athlete’s physical work capacity

The level of expertise with which an athlete is able to perform sports skill depends on how well the coach molds the correct ratio of endurance, strength, power and speed to meet the demands of the sport. In this section you will learn the science behind developing these important motor performance abilities as the young athlete moves through puberty.

Taught By

Dr. Chris Brooks

Instructor

Transcript

The final important characteristic of a muscle that influence the athletes force and power production capacity is its fiber type composition. Three different fiber types are scattered throughout a muscle. The Type I or slow oxidative or SO fiber serves a anti-gravity function, performs most of the weight-bearing movements of the body and are important for performing sustained and repetitive moments. The two forms of fast Type II fibers, the Type IIa, or Fast oxidative glycolytic factor and the Type IIx, or Fast glycolytic fiber, both of which provide the athlete with a high power output in the second two fiber types. Of the three fiber types, the Type I fiber has the lowest or slowest contraction speed, and the lowest forced production capability. The maximum contraction velocity of the type one fiber is approximately one tenth that of a type two X fiber. It is an important endurance fiber designed for sustained low levels of activity. The velocity of the Type IIa fiber is somewhere between the velocity of the Type I and the Type IIx fiber and is designed for short to moderate time periods, consisting of moderate to high intensity. The Type IIx fibers are built for explosive, very short duration activity. So you can see the three fiber types provide the athlete with a range of power. And the ratio of the three fiber types within a muscle influences the power producing capabilities of the muscle itself. Both varieties of fast twitch fibers have excellent anaerobic capacity due to the high glycogen and creatine phosphate content. However, they do differ in some important ways. The Type IIa or the fast oxidative-glycolytic fiber or FOG fiber, have a large number of mitochondria, whereas the Type IIx fiber or the fast glycollic FG fiber as we call them have very few mitochondria. The FG fibers contain a high amount of elastic protein, allowing for the effective energy storage. Slow oxidative, or Type I fibers, are the least elastic of the three varieties of muscle fibers. An aerobic training program trains the FOG fibers to act like the Type I fiber, by stimulating the growth of the mitochondria. When trained to act like Type One fibers, they improve the performance of the endurance athlete. A high intensity training program on the other hand trains them to act like the FG fiber or the Type IIx fiber, by stimulating their glycolytic enzyme production capacity. When trained to act like the Type IIx fibers, the FOG fibers improve the performance of the power athlete. The FG fibers are the most important to the athlete’s force production capabilities because they generate the largest and fastest muscle fiber found in the body. Now according to our current knowledge, the brain calls upon the type one muscle fiber first and then if more force is needed, it will recruit the FOG fiber. And if more force is needed still, they will recruit the FG fiber. The FG fibers have the highest recruitment threshold, making them largely inaccessible to the untrained individual. Repetitive, high stimulation activates high threshold fg fibers and power athletes have a genetically higher ratio of the Type IIa and Type IIx fibers and endurance athletes have a genetically higher ratio of the Type I fibers.

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